Scots more generous at buying Christmas gifts than people living in London, survey reveals

00:01, 29 Nov 2014

ByScotland Now

A STUDY by eBay showed that Scots each spend around £268 on approximately 15 gifts for 11 people on average, compared to £206 for eight people per Londoner.

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HEMEDIA / SWNS Group

Aberdeen at Christmas

WHO ever said Scots were tight-fisted?

In the run-up to the festive season, a new survey has revealed that people in Scotland are more generous with Christmas gifts than Londoners.

The study by auction website eBay showed that Scots each spend around £268 on approximately 15 gifts for 11 people on average, compared to £206 for eight people per Londoner.

However, those living in the South West of England will buy 19 gifts each on average - the most in the UK - but spend less than Scots with a total of £241.

The study also showed that children tend to get the best of the Christmas gift giving as they have £199 on average spent on them.

Despite the regional differences in terms of spending, people living in the UK are the best in Europe at motivating themselves to hit the high streets or browse online to find suitable presents.

Panic buying also appears to be a thing of the past, with just five per cent of British people thought to leave their shopping to the last week before Christmas.

Meanwhile, two fifths of shoppers start early and spread their shopping throughout the year.

In comparison to Scots, Germans will spend £155 on average while the French will fork out around £184 on gifts.

More than a quarter of Germans (28 per cent) describe their approach to Christmas shopping as "spontaneous" while those in Spain (10 per cent) and Italy (14 per cent) are most likely to leave it to the last minute.

A total of 1,012 British people aged 16-64 were surveyed last month.

More than 10,000 adults worldwide were surveyed in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Korea, Spain and the US .

Check out our gallery below of fantastic things to do in Scotland in the build-up to Christmas